According to the series’ lead writer and executive producer, What If…? almost had The Office inspired What If episode. What If..? will look at different storylines from the Marvel universe, revealing how alternative plot lines in the MCU could have turned out if one thing had been different. On August 11, 2021, the series will air on Disney+. The first episode explored what would happen if Peggy Carter took the super-soldier serum and transformed into Captain Carter.
Several fascinating stories for What If…? have been teased. T’Challa will have the voice of the late Chadwick Boseman. In the scenario, the Ravengers capture the young prince of Wakanda instead of Peter Quill. Loose recreation of the Marvel Zombies plot from the comics will also be there in the series. The writers pitched several episodes, one of which had to be deleted due to its apparent similarity to the plot of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 film.
They had one notion, according to A.C. Bradley, author of the What If…? series, that would have been a big departure from what people anticipate from Marvel superheroes. She stated there was one concept of The Office inspired What If…? episode in an interview with Slashfilm. The episode pitch does not appear to have made the final cut for the first two seasons’ episode roster. Here’s what Bradley had to say:
“We played with different genres. We played with different storytelling. We’re like, ‘Should we do a heist movie?’ I think one discarded idea was, let’s do something in the vein of The Office.”
The Office inspired What If episode
From 2001 to 2003, BBC Two broadcasted the original Office series. Also, an American version of the sitcom premiered on NBC in 2005 and went on to become a pop-culture phenomenon, launching a slew of comedy talents such Steve Carrell, Mindy Kaling, and Ed Helms, to name a few. It was also the breakthrough performance for John Krasinski, the future filmmaker of A Quiet Place. The series ended in 2013 and has since become a cult hit, with a large following on Netflix. It was in use as one of the major titles to entice people to join up for Peacock. The Office’s approach affected a whole generation of television and comedy, and the show’s immediately recognizable nature certainly drew the producers of What If…? to it.
However, one reason The Office inspired What If…? episode may not have taken off since it was too similar to another Marvel Studios project. WandaVision included some homages and parodies to famous television shows, with the seventh episode, ‘Breaking the Fourth Wall,’ a parody of late-2000s and early-2010s sitcoms like Modern Family, Happy Endings, and, of course, The Office. Because another Marvel television project had already referred to The Office, the studio probably didn’t want to do so again.